DIY Crib Bumpers {Part 2}

I’m just going to eat the frog and finally post this. I’ve been procrastinating like usual because it’s so much to post, but you deserve this! Your DIY crib bumpers with piping and ties will be complete!

In Part 1, I showed you how to make the ties and piping. In Part 2 I am going to show you how to cover the padding, and finish everything up. If something doesn’t make sense, please let me know!

Lay the padding out on your fabric to trace and cut out. (A normal person would follow a pattern to get the sizes, but I’ve never learned how to read a pattern.) You will have 6 pieces of fabric for each pattern or 12 total.

Next,take 2 panels and trace the edge of the padding while it is laying on top in the center.

Pin the two pieces of fabric together just past the tracing to accommodate for the depth of the padding.

Sew the two pieces together to make one long panel. You will repeat this twice which will leave you with two long panels and 2 short panels. (2 long 2 pieces each + 2 short = 6)

After your panels are complete, you will need to repeat this again for the opposite side of bumper fabric. I followed the process for orange and bird patterns. Once you are done, you will have 4 long panels and 4 short panels which used all 12 pieces of fabric. Now it’s time to attach your piping and ties.

Lay a panel on your table with the print side facing you. (Wrong side of the fabric facing down.) Line up the piping with the cord closest to you and the leftover fabric edge on the far side. Let the piping line up at the left and right side edges of the fabric panel and cut. (I made the mistake of cutting mine a little bit too short.) Pin the piping to the fabric panel.

I was paranoid that I wouldn’t correctly space the ties to the rails. I took my panel and lined it up in her crib and marked the spot for ties with a pen onto the piping edge. To pin your ties, you will pin one tie on each end but pin an additional two ties in the middle of the long panel. Make sure they hang toward the middle of the fabric. (Long panel=4 ties, short panel=2 ties.) Do this to both long panels and both short panels of the same fabric.

Once you have this pinned, you can line up your opposite side of fabric panels and pin in place.

Stitch together as close to the piping cord as you can get. Once you have sewn the length of the panel, your piping should peek out from your two pieces of fabric. The ties should also show.

Now you can lay your piece on the table with the print side up. Place padding on top so you can figure out where to place the bottom row of piping and ties.

Lay the cord edge of the piping along the padding and pin in place. Again, cut the piping on the left and right sides to the same length as your fabric. Remove the padding. Finish by pinning the ties across from the ties that are already sewn on. Remember to let the ties hang toward the middle of the fabric. After pinning, stitch in place.

Repeat for all panels. You should now have 2 long and 2 short panels that are double sided.

Once again, use your padding to help you measure where to pin for the sides.

Pin the both the right and left sides shut.

Sew the left and right sides closed.

Flip your fabric inside out making sure to fully flip the corners. You can give them a little poke with your finger from the inside.

This is where I think a zipper foot might be handy but I was honestly too lazy to figure one out!

Stuff each panel with the padding (long panel 2 pieces, short panel 1 piece) and pin the edge shut. You should fold the edge of the fabric in.

This is what my seam looked like as I went. It’s definitely not perfect, but no one can tell unless they look at it this close. Now that I know how to make this, I can make it flawless. Plus, anything handmade has character and I am okay with that!

Make sure you have ALL pins removed! It is not safe to have pins near a baby! Snip any extra strings and go tie them in the crib!

Again, I hope this didn’t entirely confuse you! Maybe one of my goals for 2014 is to learn how to sew without pulling it out of my ass…